[Rumors]: Sandvine Won a DPI Extension at Rostelecom/elk

A rumor I heard says that Sandvine closed an extension contract at Rostelecom/ETK, According to the rumor, the contract valued at $500K.

ETK, a subsidiary of the giant Russian MON, Rosetelcom (more than 100 million subscribers in 80 regions), is the largest mobile operator in Krasnoyarsk and Altai Territory, Taimyr, Kemerovo region, the Republic of Khakassia, Tuva, Altai (see Krasnoyarsk coverage map below) with more than 2M subscribers.

6 months ago Rostelcom issued a DPI tender. An article in Vedomosti (here) says that Rostelecom issued a tender for the DPI project, and the project is planned to be completed by April 30, 2014. Rostelecom will be able to use the DPI systems to offer new Tariff plans, quota plans with speed based penalty, and more.- See "Rostelecom Issued a $33M DPI Tender for 3G Network" - here.

In February 2013, Etk launched a (DPI related) - parental control service "Service enables parents to exercise control over their children, thus ensuring their safety and comfort .. fee is 1.5 rubles per day" (see  "Rostelecom launched PARENTAL CONTROL in Norilsk" - here).

Optimization Deployments [277]: BaikalWestCom [Russia/Rostelecom] Deployed Actix

Actix (recently acquired by Amdocs for $120M - here) announced the ".. successful implementation of ActixOne Geo-located Customer Experience Analytics and Network Optimization for BaikalWestCom, the largest mobile network operator in East Siberia ..a subsidiary of Rostelecom",

Anton Shalin, Head of the Department RNP&O, BaikalWestCom, said: “Automating RAN data collection and analysis with ActixOne provides a more effective, centralized view of the network. It enables our engineers to rapidly identify and resolve any issues, often before subscribers are even aware that a problem is developing”

see "Russia’s first geo-located network optimization implemented by Actix for Rostelecom`s subsidiary BaikalWestCom" - here.

Rostelecom Optimizes Video Delivery with Ericsson CDN

 
Ericsson ("It is about Video" - here) announced that "Rostelecom, Russia's largest telecoms operator and leader in the country's broadband and pay TV markets, has deployed the world's largest operator content delivery network (CDN) - thanks to a solution developed and integrated by Ericsson (See "Ericsson Enhances Operator CDN" here and "Ericsson: 'we will not rely on Akamai technology'" - here). 

The CDN design and integration is ground-breaking in terms of both capability and geographic span, with content servers located in 30 major cities across all federal districts of Russia. In addition, the network has a capacity of more than 1 terabit per second serving Rostelecom's 9.5 million broadband customers [see chart below], from a total base of 28 million subscribers"

Source: Rostelecom 2Q2013 Report

Through this pioneering deployment, Rostelecom is addressing the escalating rise in network traffic, the global consumer uptake of online video, and the growing popularity of over-the-top (OTT) services, such as those provided by online movie firms. The new network will enable Russian consumers to enjoy higher video quality and a better user experience with diminished load time and buffering thanks to reduced network latency and increased throughput. This ability to guarantee high-quality content at maximum speeds gives Rostelecom a significant competitive edge".

See "Ericsson deploys world's largest operator CDN for Rostelecom" - here.

Rostelecom Issued a $33M DPI Tender for 3G Network

 
A tweet by Allot Communications led me to an article in the Moscow Times stating that "as Rostelecom begins finally to build up its 3G network, the state-controlled telecom company plans to spend $33 million on a system to manage mobile internet traffic, allowing it to block websites flagged by the telecommunications watchdog, Roskomnadzor, Vedomosti reported Tuesday". 

The article in Vedomosti (here) says that Rostelecom issued a tender for the DPI project, and the project is planned to be completed by April 30, 2014. Rostelecom will be able to use the DPI systems to offer new Tariff plans, quota plans with speed based penalty, and more.

"Rostelecom will be the last of Russia's big four telecom companies to acquire this capability. MegaFon installed a similar system in 2009, MTS in 2010 and VimpelCom in 2011 .. MTS spent about $50 million on its DPI-based system, which allowed the company not only block the black-listed websites but also introduce unlimited Internet plans with add-on features such as parental control, said Irina Ogarkova, a spokeswoman for MTS, Vedomosti reported".

See "DPI Deployments: Mapping of Russian ISPs" - here.

"The proposed system will use Deep Packet Inspection technology, or DPI, allowing the company to filter traffic based on its content rather than its source. DPI inspects every one of the millions of packets of data within the traffic stream and makes decisions on what to do with each of them based on the content of that data. So, instead of blocking whole websites based on the IP address of the server, the system will have the option of blocking single pages, leaving the rest of the site untouched"

See "Rostelecom to Invest in Internet Filter as New 3G Network Comes on Line" - here.